Trapped in a paralysed body, doting dad Tony Gowland dreams of being able to play football with his son again.

Tony’s world was turned upside down when he collapsed after suffering a brain stem stroke which left him with locked-in syndrome.

Once listing football and cricket as his hobbies, Tony now finds breathing a struggle.

Inside his motionless body remains activity desperate to get out. Feeding through a tube in his stomach and only moving his eyes and head to communicate, the 53-year-old manages to relay his thoughts to his wife Mary and son Robbie.

But, after Mary shed buckets of tears and Robbie found it tough to have ‘lost’ his dad, Tony remains positive that he will one day stand again.

“I really want to play football with Robbie,” said Tony through an alphabet board.

And showing he hasn’t lost his sense of humour he added: “The thing I miss most is corned beef pie and chips”.

Mary Gowland with her husband Tony who has locked in syndrome

Tony’s nightmare started in July 2012 when he collapsed in his bedroom. Scans showed he had suffered the brain stem stroke and medics gave him less than 24 hours to live.

“He was given his last rites,” said Mary, 53. who gave up her nursing job to permanently look after her husband.

“Robbie came to the hospital and so did Tony’s family and mine. I kept cuddling him and kissing his head, I thought I was losing him. Robbie was crying his eyes out. Tony and Robbie were best mates and did everything together. They played football and cricket, Tony was the one who took him to school and organised wrestling and darts night sleep-overs for his friends. It was heartbreaking.”

Medics had put Tony in an induced coma and performed a tracheostomy to help him breath. They then started to wake him up and Tony opened his eyes. But that’s all he could do.

“He could blink and nothing else,” said Mary. “Medics said if he survived he would be totally dependent. The consultant took me to one side and asked if I’d heard of locked-in syndrome. But at that point I just thought Tony would get better. I just wanted him to survive, I wanted him to live. He knew who Robbie and I was and that was enough for me.”

Tony Gowland from Consett who has locked in syndrome

Tony, a book publishing marketing manager, came off his ventilator after three days and then his challenges began. He spent two months in University Hospital of North Durham, 11 months in Walkergate Neuro Rehabilitation Unit in Newcastle and was eventually discharged back to his adapted home in Blackhill, near Consett, County Durham, in August 2013.

Tony and Mary’s beautiful bond has kept them going, while Robbie, now 17, is having counselling and is managing to cope.

“Robbie found it really hard, he was grieving,” added Mary. “He had lost his dad and his best friend.”

Mary and Tony work every day to achieve the smallest of changes. Bigger ranges of head movements and a slight finger shift are mountainous feats that they have accomplished over a space of almost four years.

And his caring friends organise an annual sponsored walk to raise money to pay for his physiotherapy sessions.

His condition is similar to former Middlesbrough footballer Gary Parkinson who has suffered locked-in syndrome since 2010.

Tony Gowland with his son Robbie, centre and family friend Liam Oliver

But Tony and Mary feel there is light at the end of their dark tunnel and have discovered a Rehamove FES Cycle which has helped other locked-in sufferers to gain movement that they didn’t have before.

The FES technology uses precise functional electrical stimulation to actively exercise the muscles of paralysed limbs. An FES bike improves circulation, eases spasms, strengthens muscles and much more. Tony has trialled the bike and his muscle response showed great results. But it costs £12,000 and Tony and Mary are raising cash to help them buy one.

“The goal would be to improve his core strength with a view to him even standing,” said Mary. “We want to be realistic and know he would never run a marathon but for him to stand would be massive. It would improve his general fitness which would in turn reduce his medication, even improving his swallowing.”

Tony Gowland with his son Robbie

Mary added: “Tony says he would love to talk again but we both know if that did come back then that would be the last thing to happen and realistically that would be a long, long way off. In fact I have kept his voice on the answerphone, I would never get rid of it, I love hearing it. I just miss him talking.

“We never thought this would happen in our lives. You just don’t think something like this would happen to our family. But through it all we like to have a laugh and keep our sense of humour.

“He is so positive, his cup is always half full. My future is with Tony.”